The Mortal of Camp Half-Blood
by Jag2853
Summary: After being attacked by a minion of Layacon, mortal Aiden O'Brien finds himself on the run with a hunter of Artemis. Now running for his life from creatures he thought existed only in fairy tales, it will take all of his wits, a gift from Hephasteus, and a bunch of girls who hate him, to save him. But if he makes it, he may just become one of the greatest heroes ever.
1. Chapter 1

AUTHORS NOTES: Some of you may have come here because of my other story, others, this is your first time reading my work. To those of you who are new, Hello! To those returning, welcome back! I started writing this fanfic for two reasons, first, because I was tired of writing the same thing every week and wanted some variety, second, I read the Blood of Olympus recently, and I must say I was disappointed. It had a great story, but it was poorly executed. I'm hoping to explore some settings and characters that I feel didn't get enough time in the books. I hope you enjoy this, and PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS. I love it when you guys comment, it's as close to getting paid as it gets.

Chapter One: Our Hunt Begins

"Aiden, must you come to class everyday smelling like, well, you?" Aiden's teacher said as soon as he walked into the room. As per usual he had just finished welding so he smelled of soot, which was a MUCH better alternative to smelling like acetylene. "Sorry ms. Stone. There's no time to take a shower after we finish cleaning up shop." He said as he scratched his short, dirty blonde hair. They had had this discussion nearly everyday since Aiden started his sophomore year, and it was becoming increasingly annoying. "Next time I'll make sure to leave the highly flammable gases on, that way I have enough time to grab one. I don't want to offend your nose or something. His teacher rolled her eyes and turned towards the board. "Just take a seat." Aiden was a perfectly normal student. Beyond taking welding at his school, a class few decided to take, he was no different from anyone else.

"Yes mam." He took his seat at the back of the class and quickly took out his phone as the bell for eighth period rung and ms. Stone started the lesson. "Ok, now who can name the twelve Olympian gods? Aiden, since you're on your phone I bet you've already googled the answer! Why not share with the class?" Aiden rolled his eyes and stood up. In fact, he hadn't. He had been on Facebook looking at just about everything but. "Dammit. I swear she has super vision or something." He thought before answering the question. "Uhh, Zeus, Poseidon, Hades." He paused for a second, he knew for a fact they covered it the day before, but he couldn't remember. "Michel Phelps, obviously." The entire class started laughing at Aiden's joke, every one except Ms. Stone, of course. "Mr. O'Brien, I do wish you'd take this class seriously for once. This information may be invaluable to you one day." She said as she shook her head in shame towards Aiden. "Why?" He asked. Aiden's teacher had been saying that for the past few months since school started. But what weight could it possibly hold today? "These are just a bunch of old myths people used to explain the sun and lightning and stuff. It's all just a bunch of old fairy tales!" She pointed to a poster on the wall just above her head. It was a picture of Winston Churchill with the quote "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." She turned to the board and began to write down the names of the Greek gods. "History is like a map Aiden. Know where you're coming from and you know where you're going."

Aiden had left school late and was walking home, it was early October so the sun would be setting soon. Living in Chicago there was never any shortage of Greek culture around. With in just three blocks he passed several statues depicting various gods, several columns in the ancient style, and, Aiden's personal favorite, several dozen Greek restaurants. Chicago is an excellent example of American culture, you've got Greek, Italian, Polish, Hispanic, Asian, and all sorts of other cultures blending together to create an entirely new culture. "Strength through diversity." His freshman U.S. history teacher had called it. The sun was setting now, he'd stayed after to work on a project for welding, one of the few classes he actually cared about, and now had a slight electric smell about him from the electric arc welder. It'd be dark by the time he got home.

"Maybe I'll stop and appreciate some Greek culture before I get home." He thought as he passed a small, hole in the wall restaurant. He walked inside and saw his friend sitting near the front enjoying some Greek culture in the form of a gyros as well. "Hey Rodriguez, didn't realize you where here." Rodriguez looked up form his gyros and wiped his face with a napkin. "Aiden, what's up man? I didn't see you at lunch again today." Aiden pulled out a chair and sat down, placing his back pack at the side of the table he asked the guy at the counter for his own gyros. "Was working on the welding project. That's due next Monday and the wings needed to be attached so I could get to the more specific details." Rodriguez took another bite of his gyros and, with his mouth half full, said "and why did you decide to make a TIE fighter from Star Wars again?"  
"Cause Star Wars is awesome man. Plus it's relatively easy to make, The main body required lots of thin, rectangular pieces, and even more tacking, but it's looking good."

Rodriguez put his Gyros down and took a sip of his Pepsi. He pursed his lips together like he was trying to decide wether or not to say what he was thinking. His next sentence proved he obviously decided yes. "You know, you've been throwing yourself into your work ever since the thing with your mom happened, and you haven't been eating a lot lately. You are okay, right?" Aidens gyros arrived and he took a bite of it. After swallowing he responded to his friends inquiry. "Yes. I'm fine. I just needed to do a lot more work in that class lately, plus look, I'm eating right now."  
"And before now?" Aiden stoped eating for a second to think. "Uhh, yesterday." Rodriguez shook his head slowly. "Twelve o one midnight doesn't count as yesterday. But all right man. Just remember, if you need to talk, I'm always here for you."  
"I know, I'm not trying to ignore you, I just need to figure this out my self. Speaking of which..." He looked at his phone, it was five thirty. He had about a half hour before it got dark, and very, very cold. "I need to get going." He got up and put his gyros in a box. "You going to the homecoming dance later this month man?" Rodriguez asked. Aiden just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "I dunno, we'll find out at homecoming."

After he got home Aiden put his left overs in the fridge, the only source of light coming from the lights under the microwave. "Dads probably pulling another late shift at the office. Looks like another dinner alone." He went upstairs to use the bathroom. When he looked in the mirror he saw his cheeks where a light red from the cold, it was still early October, but in recent years it had been getting colder earlier. It made him think of the last time he saw his mother, she'd been so pale, and her face had grown so thin. He remembered what she'd said to him one of the last times he'd seen her. "Dear, when I came to this country I was just a young girl. We where poor and had nothing. Nothing but hope, and that was all we needed to move forward." She blinked for several seconds, everything had been taking longer and more effort for her to do. "Now, all I have again is hope. Hope for you. You will be great. I know it."

Aiden fell down on the floor and started crying, it was still so fresh in his head, all he wanted to do was forget, but those final days where permanently burned into his memory. Suddenly he heard someone moving down stairs. He got up and wiped his face with a towel. If his dad had come home early he should go see why, he'd been working longer hours since it happened and usually wasn't home till Aiden was already asleep. He went down stairs and back into the kitchen. "You home already dad?" Then he saw who had made the noise, and it was definitely not his dad. He had a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. He wore a black cloak that shrouded his face in darkness, but the most horrifying part where his eyes. They where a deep glowing yellow with a pure, black, iris.

Aiden immediately grabbed a knife off the counter, he didn't know why, but he needed something. "Who the hell are you?" He pointed the knife at him, but Aiden knew one hit from the arrow and he wouldn't be able to fight. Hell, he probably wouldn't be able to fight either way. "My name does not concern you." The cloaked man knocked the arrow and drew it back. In the dim light Aiden could see his bow was a black, compound bow. "My master has told me to bring you to him. Don't make this harder on yourself then it needs to be."

Aiden was trembling, he'd never experienced such pure, primal fear before, this man obviously wasn't afraid to kill him. Aiden didn't know why, but something about this man filled him with dread. He wasn't sure what influenced his next move, or him ever even moving in the first place, but before he knew it he was right up against the intruder, his knife going through his neck, and out the other side. But instead of falling dead on the floor, he merely blinked. Aiden walked away slowly. "H-how?" The intruder slowly let his bow string back Into firing position and pulled the knife out and threw it on the floor. "No weapon, mortal or divine, can kill a Lycan fool." Aiden was terrified beyond rational thought, his legs felt like they where going to give way. This made it even easier to listen to the voice behind him telling him to duck. Suddenly three arrows pierced the intruders chest. Two more entered each eye socket. And three more where shot at his chest again.

He turned around, still sitting on the floor, and looked at the person who shot the arrows. She wore a white tank top with silver camo pants. She had a strange silver glow about her, it was subtle, he probably wouldn't have seen it if it where any brighter, which contrasted her short, spiky, black, hair. "Wh-who are you?" He managed to stammer out. She reached a hand out to him. "Come with me if you want to live." He gladly accepted her hand and she helped pull him up. "Are you ok? Did he bite you." Aiden was stunned from the encounter, but even so he thought the question was odd. "That's a really strange question." He thought. He looked at the girl, she looked to be about his age, sixteen, and they where about the same height. "No, he didn't hurt me. Though if you hadn't shown up he probably would have." She checked him over twice and patted him down to make sure. "Little girls shouldn't be playing with weapons." Suddenly the intruder started to stand up. He pulled the arrows out and his wounds began to heal faster then humanly possible. The girl clenched her teeth and walked towards the intruder while Aiden scrambled back. "Get behind me. I'll take care of him." A shield appeared on her left arm and a silver knife in her right hand. "Why do you want the boy? Tell me and leave, then I will spare you." The man dropped his bow and pulled out his own knife. "My master gave me no orders to take any of Artemis's whelps alive."

She thrust her shield at him and he backed away slightly, but in no way did he retreat. She stepped forward and swung her knife at him slashing his chest, but he barely even noticed it. He tried to stab her throat but she ducked and only grazed her cheek. She kicked him in the groin and, as he lurched over, hit his face with her shield. He fell onto the floor, his eyes half closed as a groan escaped but cut off quickly. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, her shield and knife disappeared and she pulled a lighter and a small, white tube out of her pockets. She lit the lighter and sprayed the flame with the tube, the flames grew exponentially and engulfed the intruders body. She turned towards Aiden, the fire now out and the ashes disappeared. "A lighter and pepper spray make a good makeshift flame thrower." She walked over to him and put them back in her pocket. "If he was after you more will come. Who are your parents?" Aiden blinked a few times."Heh?" The girl rubbed her eyes and sighed in frustration. "Your parents, mom, dad, names, go." Aiden crossed his arms, she was being rather rude for some one who broke in and set someone on fire. "Well, she did save me. Guess that evens it out." He walked over to her and looked at the spot the man had been cremated. Nothing, no ash, no outline, all gone. "Conor and Sarah O' Brien."

She found the light switch and flipped it on illuminating the room. Her aura was gone now, and he could see a look of shock on her face. "And they're both your biological parents? Are you sure?"  
"Ok, now you're getting a little personal."  
"look, I need to know, the longer we stay here the more likely it is that more will come." Aiden didn't understand what was going on, but she seemed to, and she also seemed very, very worried. "Yes, both of them are my biological parents." She put a hand her mouth and went over to her bag and put it on.

He clenched his fists and nearly yelled at her. "What the hell is going on! You come in here, shoot a man in the chest six times, he doesn't die, you set him on fire, you ask about my parents, and you have a disappearing weapons! I want answers." He walked over to her and she sat on the stairs. She put her fist under her chin, she almost resembled the thinker statue. "What's your name? I realized I didn't ask." Aiden crossed his arms again. "Aiden. Aiden O'Brien." She moved he fist and laid her ams across her knees. "Aiden, you know what that man called him self? He said he was a lycan. I know this will sound weird but..." She paused for a second, thinking about what to say next. "Aiden, that man was a werewolf." Aiden's eyes widened. "A werewolf? But that's a myth." He slowly lowered his arms as a wave of realization washed over him. "And why do I believe you?" He truly did, it was the only way to explain why the knife and arrows didn't kill him, but why did the fire? She smiled at him. She seemed amused by this statement. "It is Aiden, and a lot of myths, well, they aren't just myths."

Aiden backed up. His heart was racing. "No." He thought. "This is insane. This girl must be an escaped mental patient or something. But, she did shoot him in the chest, and he didn't die. And that was after I stabbed him In the neck." He slowly lowered his arms, the sudden realization taking over him. "Oh. Oh. I see. So, what other myths are there? Ones that are real, I mean." Thalia got up off the stairs and headed towards the door. "The old myths, the myths of Greece and Rome, they're real. So are the gods and goddesses." She paused, her eyes staring off into the distance as if recounting the past. "And monsters. You may be mortal Aiden, but him, me, we aren't. Come on, we need to get you to safety."  
"Wait." He walked up behind her and grabbed her shoulder. This was almost too much for him to process. Gods? Monsters? They're real? "What are you?" Aiden asked. She turned around and looked him dead in the eye. "I am Thalia. Daughter of Zeus and Hunter of Artemis."


	2. Chapter 2

Authors notes: don't have much to say today, but merry Christmas and happy Hanukah! Enjoy the present!

Chapter two: I met a goddess. She didn't like me.

when most guys find a hot girl in their house there is a variety of responses they can come up with. Running away, however, is usually not among them. But that's exactly what he did as Thalia grabbed his arm and forcibly dragged him to a silver Subaru that she'd parked in back. "How'd you even get in? The doors and windows where all locked and the security system should have been armed." Aiden said as they turned out of the alley. "Not the windows on the second floor, and ADT? That stuffs child play." She said as she turned onto the freeway. "The second floor? That's like twelve feet high!" Thalia hit him in the back of his head with her palm, she looked very annoyed by his statement. "Yeah, I know. And it's twelve feet and four inches actually." Aiden put his head in his palms. "Gods, goddesses, demogods? Dammit, I'm gonna have to apologize to ms. Stone later."

Thalia turned off the freeway and started heading towards the Sears Tower as rush hour began to die down, leaving only the normal, and completely ridiculous, Chicago traffic. "I'm a demigod, not demogod." She turned into an underground parking garage on the other side of the street form the tower. She parked and looked at him, he was trying to stay calm, but she could tell he was on the verge of a break down, and what she was about to do could potentially destroy his mental state. Permanently. "Look, I know this is strange and weird and probably hard to process. I'm surprised your taking it so well actually." Aiden looked at her and rubbed his temples. "Well? Good lord woman I'm about to go nuts. I stabbed some one in the throat and they acted like it was a minor annoyance. You shot him in the eyes and chest and he still survived, you had to set him on fire to stop him! I don't know if you're telling the truth, but something is going on and I want answers." Thalia put his hand on his shoulder, she looked at him like she understood what was he was going through, like she'd gone through it as well. "And I know some one who can give them to you."

They got out of the car and walked over to an elevator, they got in along with a man who looked like an electrician. "We need to wait till he's out." She whispered quietly in his ear. The electrician got off on the second floor and Thalia immediately removed a small, four by four inch panel beneath the buttons to reveal a new button, this one containing the Greek letter alpha. "This building was made as a disguise, it hides a secret base the hunters of Artemis have been using since the eighties." Aiden scratched his head, she said that like it should mean something to him. She pushed the button and the elevator began to descend. "It'll take about five minutes to go all the way down. I've got a few things to tell you first. Ok, first and most importantly, under no circumstances do you leave my side." Aiden twitched his eyes side to side. "Well, this escalated rather quickly." He started shifting on his heels uncomfortably. He put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall. "Sorry Aiden, the hunters aren't exactly the most guy friendly people, if they find you and I'm not with you they may attack on sight."

"They afraid I have cooties or something?" Not guy friendly? Was this elementary school or something. "Something like that. Also, the person you'll be meeting, she's a goddess. Don't speak unless spoken to, don't do anything to make her angry, and for the love of gods do not hit on anyone!"

The elevator stopped and Aiden stumbled forward, luckily Thalia grabbed him before he hit his head on the other wall. She quickly pushed him back up before the door opened, afraid of what people would think if they saw. "Remember, stay by me at all times." They walked out and Aiden could immediately sense the atmosphere get tenser. It looked like a wear house, racks of bows lined the wall, tables with various swords and knives filled the room. There where four or five others, all girls who looked to be in there mid to late teens, in the room. The second he stepped out of the elevator they stopped what ever they where doing. Two even drew bows back and pointed them at him. "He's with me! Stand down!" They immediately relaxed their bows and continued with whatever they where doing. Though they still kept an eye on him. "Well, glad to see you girls have the whole hospitality thing down." She grabbed a quiver of arrows and slung them over her shoulder, apparently she'd run out of ammo earlier. "Sorry, they don't trust guys much." The weirdest part of the compound though where the trophy heads, there was every thing from bears and lions to things Aiden couldn't even begin to name. "Is that a Minotaur?" He asked. Thalia looked at it. "Yeah, my lady slew him several centuries ago in France."

"The Minotaur was in France? Jeez, this day just gets freakier by the second."

He followed Thalia to the back of the room. There was a young girl, maybe twelve, with auburn hair and strange, yet strikingly beautiful , silver eyes sitting at a desk sharpening a hunting knife. Thalia kneeled and bowed to her. "Lady Artemis, I found the monster I was tracking. Turns out he was a lycan, and he was his target." She stood up and waved her hand to Aiden. She looked up from her work and looked at him. "Well, speak boy."

"You're a Goddess? But you're freaking adorable!" Thalia looked like she was about to have a heart attack. "My lady! I'm so sorry, he- he doesn't realize what he's saying!" Suddenly a knife flew past Aidens cheek landing in the wall on the other side of the room, the other girls began to focus intensely on their tasks, doing what ever they could to ignore what was happening. "Listen boy!" The girl yelled, only she wasn't a girl now. She resembled a woman in her mid twenties and was easily eight feet tall. She wore a silver hunting cloak that covered a white tank top and silver camo pants like Thalia's. "I am Artemis, goddess of the hunt, one of the twin archery gods, lord of the moon, In the future I'd watch your tongue! Know your place boy!"

She shrunk down to a more natural height and took her seat again, she folded her hands on the desk and looked at Thalia. "I'm sorry about that sister, you have no blame in this. Now, about him, why where the Lycans after him?" Thalia regained her composure and began to issue her report. "My lady, I don't know the Lycans intention beyond his 'master' wanting Aiden here."

"Is he a demigod?"

"No, my lady."

"Then how is he able to see any of this?" She asked, sounding like she already knew the answer. Thalia tapped a watch on her wrist that Aiden just now noticed. "Chiron taught me how to manipulate the mist, I've been doing that since we got to the garage. I can't keep it up indefinitely though." Artemis put her hand on her chin. "This is troubling. Why would Lyacon want a mortal?" Aiden raised his hand slowly, he didn't want the next knife to land in his throat. "Well? Speak boy."

"Uh, mam? Who's Lyacon?"

Artemis waved her hand and a series of pictures that looked like they where from Ancient Greece appeared on the wall. They depicted what looked like a werewolf devouring children among other horrible scenes. "Lyacon was a king in one of the Ancient Greek city states. One day my father, Zeus, King of the gods and lord of the skies, showed up. Wanting to see if he was really Zeus, prepared a feast for him. But, as it turns out, the king had killed and cooked his own children to feed to the God. You must understand, cannibalism is one of the greatest sins as far as we gods are concerned, given what the titan lord Kronos did to my father and his brethren. Outraged, my father transformed Lyacon into a half human half wolf creature. A Lycan, or as you know them, werewolves." Artemis turned to Thalia. "With the increase in monster activity these last few months it is imperative we learn Lyacons plans, I doubt he'll be working solely with other Lycans. Thalia, your new mission is to take Aiden to camp Half-Blood. There he will be protected and you can work with the demigods to defeat Lyacon."

Thalia stood at attention and nodded. "Yes, my lady. But I'll need help if where going that far and have to deal with Lycans." Artemis sighed. "Alas, I have no one to spare. Thousands of monsters made it from Tartarus before the doors closed, our forces are spread thin as it is, even with the help of the camps and the Amazons. But any hunters you meet on the way may be able to help you, and the legion is obligated to help any demigod in their time of need. Take heart, you won't be alone on this trip." Thalia bowed. "Yes, my lady. We must go immediately then. Wait, about the mist?" Artemis's s got up and walked over to Aiden. She covered his eyes and began to speak. "By my power, I grant ye sight beyond sight." She removed her hands and sat back down. "The mist shall no longer affect him. Be on your way now." Thalia got up and walked away with Aiden right behind. "And Thalia." She turned around immediately as she said her name. "Remember your vows." With out hesitation, Thalia responded. "Of course my lady."

"You're lucky she didn't incinerate you!" Thalia yelled as they walked out of the elevator. She slapped him in the back of the head as she pushed a button on her keys and the trunk popped open and placed two duffle bags filled with supplies she gathered after their meeting with Artemis. "Sorry, still getting use to the whole Olympian goddess thing." Thalia closed the trunk and got into the drivers seat and Aiden got in the passenger side. "It's ok, but be careful! I've never seen her so laid back as she just was. I wouldn't push it with any other gods we meet." Aiden paused mid step. "Laid back? I'd hate to meet her on her period." He thought, but didn't dare say out loud for fear of another smack to his cranium. He got in the passenger side and they pulled out and headed onto the street. "Either ways we have a long drive ahead of us. That camp she mentioned, it's all the way in Long Island." Aiden turned on the radio to the news. No reports about werewolves or monsters, though apparently there was a two for one deal at Menards. "Last I checked there's no Long Island in Lake Michigan."

Thalia turned onto lake shore drive and started heading towards Indiana. "No, we're heading to New York. There's a camp there, it's a special camp for demigods, the half human half Olympian children of the gods. It's one of two places in the world that can be called safe for demigods, but even then..." She trailed off like she didn't want to finish that thought. Aiden took out his phone and started to dial his dad's number. "So, how exactly do I tell my dad a goddess sent me on a road trip to New York so I don't get mauled by werewolves?" In one swift movement Thalia grabbed his phone and threw it out his window. Aiden looked out as it splashed into the lake, though it was to dark to see it. Aiden turned his head to her and stared at her, his eyes squinting together as he processed what just happened. "You just threw my phone into the lake you bitch!" Thalia closed her window as they passed the Diamond building so the cold October air didn't get in. "Sorry, should have checked to see if you had one before we left for the base. Monsters can track cellphone, computer, and, well, pretty much any sort of modern technology's, signals. They usually go after demigods, but we know how well that worked out for you the last time." She turned to him and grinned, suddenly he wasn't so mad about the phone anymore. "Uhh, sorry about calling you a bitch."

They where out of the city and finally on the free way now. "It's ok man. But we need to be careful. There haven't been this many monsters in the mortal world since ancient times."

"Yeah, I remember Artemis saying that. What happened?" Suddenly her face became cold and stony. Her eyes focused solely on the rode ahead. "Last summer, something awful happened. Gaia rose." Not a big fan of straying from tradition, Aiden proceeded to have no idea what she was talking about. "Who's guy A?" He asked. "No, Gaia, the primordial goddess, the earth itself woke for the first time in millennia." The earth? Aiden couldn't help but picture some woman with a head band made of wild flowers wearing a tie dye toga. "And I don't mean some Snow White one with nature type, we're talking one of the most evil immortals to ever exist. She attempted to wipe out the whole mortal world and usher in a new era of chaos." Aiden was stunned. "Well crap, and I thought my summer had already been bad." He thought. "Well, I'm guessing she was stopped." Thalia's face glowed at the mentioning, her voice carrying a tone of sheer pride. "Yup! My little brother and his friend managed to stop her, can't kill a goddess that powerful but they managed to spread her essence so thin she probably won't ever have a consciousness ever again. Unfortunately for us, she'd managed to allow tens of thousands of monsters out of Tartarus before hand, lots of hunters have died these past few months. Luckily Apollo was banished to earth until the monster situation gets under control, not sure why, so he's been helping out."

Aiden shook his head, gods, monsters, evil Mother Nature, and banished sun gods, this was a little much for him. "Will my life ever be the same? Now that I've seen all this." He asked. He stared at the city in the rear view mirror, it was slowly shrinking as they continued north, the millions of lights that had illuminated his child hood slowly fading. Thalia looked at him. She put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "No, I'm sorry but now that you know about all this, you only have two options. Adapt or die." Aiden thought about his welding project, guess that would never get done. "My dad, will he be safe?" He couldn't lose him, not so soon afterwards. "I've got a hunter trailing him, tomorrow she'll manipulate his memory, think he sent you to go to some private school in New York, as long as you don't try and contact him he should be ok. After this is all done and over with, I'm not sure, but there's no going back." Aiden sighed. "Ok then. Not like my old life was getting any better."


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Notes: Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah everybody! This week has been hectic for me. I work in a supermarket and it's been crazy pretty much since thanksgiving. Well, here's the new chapter a few days early in celebration of Christmas! Please enjoy AND LEAVE COMMENTS!

Chapter three: The Centurion

When he'd woken up yesterday morning everything had been just fine. But in the fifteen hours since they'd left Chicago about everything but they sky falling had gone wrong, and even that wouldn't surprise Aiden at this point. They should have been to New York by now, but since they'd left the city they'd been attacked by a hydra that was also a gas station, a few grain spirits that wanted to preach about the wonders of corn, and now, they're in the middle of a car chase with three bird ladies. "Hold on!" Thalia yelled as she drove into a corn field. "Haven't we had enough corn already? I'm still finding kernels in my pockets!" Corn was flying all over the place in their wake. Thalia hit him In the back of the head again, she was making an annoying habit of doing that when he said something she thought was stupid. "Oh I'm sorry, let's stay on the road with the Harpies! I'm sure they'll only mutilate us a little if we beg for our lives politely!" Aiden had a death grip on his seat. "Good point!" These past few hours had been a series of choices between "will only kill you a lot, and will only kill you a whole hell of a lot".

"Take the wheel!" Thalia let go and suddenly a bow appeared in her hands. Aiden frantically grabbed the wheel and tried to keep the car straight. She knocked an arrow and leaned out the window. She let it go and it struck one harpy right in the chest causing it to disintegrate into dust. One of the other two lashed a whip of flames setting the field in front of them on fire. "Thalia! Fire! Really big fire!"

"Just keep driving!" She got back in and took the wheel, she floored it, corn flying up the wind shield, and drove right into the flames. "Gods, these harpies are annoying." Suddenly her deep, electric blue eyes turned dark gray with streaks of blue arcing across them. Then, in the middle of a clear blue sky, a bolt of lightning flew down and hit one of the harpies before arcing out into the other one. She applied the breaks and leaned back in her seat, she was breathing heavily and looked tired as hell which, given that she'd been driving for fifteen straight hours while simultaneously fighting dozens of monsters, probably wasn't far from the truth. The fire behind them was dying down now. "Haven't done that in a while, took more out of me then I thought it would." Aiden looked back, the harpies where gone with only scorched earth remaining. "How did you do that?" He asked, completely shocked. "Daughter of Zeus. Remember? I can summon lightning, though it's easier to use with my spear. I usually just make some static." Aiden looked at her, his eyes wide in shock and his mouth hanging a little. "You can summon lightning? You know, at this point I shouldn't be surprised." He said throwing his hands up in defeat. "We need help. And fast." She said as she started driving again.

"Where do you intend to get help? All the other hunters are busy."

"Remember my brother I told you about yesterday? Well, funny story, there's two kinds of demigods. I'm a Greeks demigod, but he's a Roman demigod. He's the son of Jupiter, my fathers Roman form." Aiden rolled his eyes. "Of course, not just Greek but the gods are also Italian, must make for interesting dinners." Thalia nodded at him as the got back onto the road. "Yeah, we where kept secret from each other for nearly a century, but last summer after he defeated Gaia he and my friend, Percy, successfully managed to unite the two camps. As such, a new law was made at camp Jupiter, should a Greek demigod be in need any former member of the twelfth legion must help them. I'll give him a call and see where the nearest legionnaire is. Aiden reached out and pulled a corn cob off the wind shield. "Uhh, you don't have a cell phone and you threw mine in the lake. They don't have pay phones anymore either." Thalia pulled on to the road and immediately parked. She pointed to a large sprinkler spraying more corn, a rainbow was being formed in the early morning sun. She got out and leaned against the hood of the car. She took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, smiling like she'd been doing every time Aiden said something that revealed his ignorance. "And who said anything about phones?"

"Now where'd I put that drachma?" Thalia thought as she reached into her pockets. She found it and pulled the small, golden coin out of her pocket. She closed her eyes and put her hands together. "Oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." She threw the coin into the rainbow and it disappeared, she glanced over to Aiden discreetly. "He doesn't seem surprised. Good, he's learning." She turned her eyes back to the rainbow. "Please show me Jason Grace, Camp Jupiter." Suddenly the image shimmered and she saw her little brother sitting at a desk with a laptop, piles of paper strewn about in no particular order. "Jason, when'd you get glasses?" He jerked his head up from his screen and nearly fell out of his chair. "Thalia! Sorry, I was focused on ordering materials for some new shrines. Oh, and the glasses I got from Apollo's son Asclepius, apparently I'm near sighted."

Thalia smiled. She wished she could spend more time with her brother, but her duties as a hunter always came first. "That's cool! How's work going? You're building temples for the minor gods right?" Jason picked up some papers and put them into a filing cabinet next to his desk. "Yeah, just finished the one on Long Island at camp half blood, I'll be heading that way soon to check it out."

"Uhh, Thalia, sorry to interrupt but can we get to the part where we ask for help so we don't die?" Jason looked past his sister and finally notice Aiden. "Who's that?" He asked. Thalia suddenly got pulled back to their mission. "Oh yeah, sorry I can't say much, but we need help right now. Are there any legionaries nearby?" Jason started typing on his computer. "Where are you, I need to know so I can access the archive."

"Northern Indiana." He typed in the states name and turned the computer so they could see it. "You're in luck, there's a son of Apollo near by." Thalia looked at the screen and was shocked, he was only five miles away. "Can we trust him?" Jason typed on the screen and his credentials came up "Geoff Abel. Son of Apollo, he was the centurion of the third cohort before he retired from the legion, retired with full honors and graduated first in his class in college in New Rome, studied business. "

"Great! We have to go now. I'll talk to you soon, I promise."

"Bye Sis."

The image disappeared and Thalia walked back to the car, she rubbed the tears from her eyes so Aiden didn't see. "I'm so sorry Jason. I should be there for you." She said to herself, repeating what she had wanted to say to her younger brother. "So your last names Grace, huh?" Thalia almost turned around and punched him square in the face, but she restrained her self. No use doing an escort mission if you're going to beat up the escorted. "No. No it's not." She said instead. "Oh, sorry, I thought since he was your brother you two had the same last name." The urge to punch him increased as he spoke. "Grace is my moms name, I don't use it. We didn't exactly have the best relationship." Aiden shrugged as he got into the car. "Shame, it suits you."

They drove five miles and came to a small town in the sticks. "How's this car still in tact? We where literally attacked by a gas station, how does that even happen?" Thalia parked the car across the street from the address Jason had given them. The address was a store called "All Things String." Thalia took her glasses off and hung them on her shirt. "It's magic, it automatically repairs most damage and can change models. We should probably do that later to throw monsters off." Aiden got out and looked at the car, she was right, it looked like it had just been driven off the show room floor. "A magic car. You see, I want to say that's impossible, then I remember I just said we where attacked by a gas station." Thalia looked down the street, apparently they where on Main Street. It was around ten so people where going up and down doing what ever it is people here did. "Well, no monsters so I guess it's safe."

She started to cross the street when suddenly Aiden thought of something. "Hey, if there's so many monsters and stuff, why has no one seen any?" They finished crossing and Thalia stopped before entering the store. "Oh yeah, you may have heard me mention the mist yesterday. See, there's this super natural phenomenon called the mist, it clouds mortals eyes from all the mythical things like gods and monsters. Demigods are immune but I had to manipulate the mist yesterday so you could see, Artemis lifted the mists affects on you so I didn't have to constantly do it." Aiden rolled his eyes, he was truly becoming annoyed by his own ignorance. "Well ok then, time to talk to Geoff."

The shop was mostly empty, on the left side the walls where lined with all sorts of bows and cross bows. On the other side it was lined with guitars, harps, and other stringed instrument. "Yup, a son of Apollo owns this place." Thalia said as she walked in. Aiden scanned the store, there where two people working. One was a scrawny kid who looked like he was barley old enough to have a job. The other looked like he was in his early to mid twenties, he was about six and a half feet tall with short, dirty blonde hair. His biceps where the size of Aidens head and looked like they where going to rip his shirt off with each movement, he was stringing a bow behind the counter and didn't look up when they entered. "You look just like your dad Geoff." Suddenly the big muscular guy stopped stringing his bow and looked at Thalia. "Yeah, got that a lot back at camp. You two look like you may wanna talk. Come back to my office.

"So it's true. Greek demigods do exist." They where back in Geoff's office, which was filled with arrows, guitar strings, and bows waiting to be put on display. They explained the mission to him, but he seemed more interested in the fact Thalia was Greek. "Well, this sure got interesting. Yeah, I'll help. I need to grab my stuff, hope my armor still fits. And you may want to change Thalia. I can tell you're a hunter from a mile away." He got up and went to a closet. "He's right, the whole silver Rambo get up is a little noticeable." Aiden said as Thalia looked at her clothes. "Guess your right, got a bathroom I can change in?" Geoff pointed towards the front of the store from the closet. "By the door on your left."

Thalia left leaving Aiden and Geoff alone. "So, your dads the sun god huh?" He asked trying to make small talk. Geoff got out of the closet and pulled what looked like modern body armor out. "Also the God of archery, medicine, music, poetry, prophecy and a whole lot of other things. But yeah, he's also the sun god." Geoff smiled, he seemed incredibly laid back, which had thrown Thalia off when they'd met. Aiden looked at the body armor, it looked like a bullet proof vest. "When you said armor I guess I was expecting ancient looking armor. Like I saw back at the hunters base." Geoff put the armor on his desk and pulled out a twelve gauge, pump action shotgun. "Most do, but I guess my résumé didn't mention I'm considered to be one of the most unorthodox centurions the legion ever saw." Aiden stepped back a little, he'd never been so close to a gun before. "No, no it didn't. I'm guessing you use more modern weaponry?"

Aiden had assumed all demigods used swords and shields like Thalia. When he'd visited the hunters all he saw where bows, knives, and swords, not a single weapon that looked like it was made after the Middle Ages. "Yup, my shotgun here fires imperial gold buck shot. Not many monsters can handle imperial gold, the metals purity has a negative reaction with their dark essence. Unfortunately, Lycans are among the few that can. Fortunately, I have these." He pulled out a pistol and pulled the slide back causing a bullet to pop out. "I first met my father when I became a centurion. As a gift for my accomplishment he gave me a few thousand rounds of 9mm." He handed the bullet to Aiden. He turned it over in his hand, the tip of the bullet was a deep red. "Those are sun rounds, the burst into flames on contact. Should give our buddies a fun time."

"A couple thousand? Maybe we should just wait and let you take care of them." Geoff laughed and patted him on the back. "A few thousand rounds doesn't go as far as you'd think."

Aiden handed the bullet back to him. Geoff put it back in the clip, put the gun in his bag, and began taking off his shirt to put his armor on. "Jeez, I suddenly feel naked not having any weapons." Geoff suddenly turned around, his armor half on revealing his eight pack, and pointed to Aiden. "No weapons? You're being hunted by werewolves and she didn't think to give you a weapon? Well, that just won't do." He reached into his bag and rummaged around. He finally pulled out a Bowie knife, except unlike other knives Aiden had seen this one was pure gold and cast a faint light on his face. "This won't do any good against werewolves but most other monsters are hurt by this. See, you can't use regular metal against monsters. It's beneath them. But this, this will get there attention." He put it in the sheath and handed it to Aiden, who clipped it onto his belt. "Thanks, we should get going. Thalia's probably waiting.

Indeed she was. Only instead of silver pants and a tank top she wore a black "death to Barbie" T-shirt, a leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders, blue jeans that where ripped in the knees and black, steel toed boots. Her sunglasses completed the whole look. Geoff looked towards Aiden and whispered so she didn't hear. "Are you being hunted by Werewolves or the terminator?" Aiden looked at her, oddly enough she was able to pull it off. "At this point, does it really matter?" Geoff chuckled and nodded. "Good point." Thalia walked over to them and took her glasses off. "What took you so long?" Geoff lifted his duffle bag up. "Needed to get my stuff. Either ways, you should probably let me do the driving. You've been up for about fifteen hours. Last thing we need is you falling asleep at the wheel."

"Or if a another gas station attacks us." Aiden said as Geoff nodded in agreement, though Thalia seemed less convinced. "Well, all right, just don't do anything too stupid." Geoff turned around toward the other guy. "Hey Nick, you're in charge till I come back. Not sure how long this trip will take." Nick nodded and immediately went back to tuning guitars.

When they got outside their silver Subaru was gone, in its place a silver corvette. "It self repairs and can turn into any car, why not get a little color variety?" Thalia threw the keys over to Geoff and got in the back. "Oh, you can have it any color you want. As long as it's silver." Geoff got in and turned on the car with a grin. "Going with you guys was a good choice."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Gotta Break the Unbreakable

Aiden had dreamt before. Everyone has, but this? This was no dream. He stood on a hill next to a pine tree, but instead of the normal green color pine trees are, this pine tree was pure white. He ran his hand on the pure white bark, it felt oddly warm and comforting given the time of year. He turned his head towards a large body of water, there he saw what looked like it used to be a camp. It looked like it may have at one time been a beautiful and fun place to be, but now it looked like a war zone. "Oh god." Was all he could manage to say. Cabins burned until they where nothing but piles of smoldering beams, large marble columns where collapsing, and mutilated body's lay scattered acre after bloody acre. He was astonished, he'd never seen such carnage before. Standing on the shore a group of about a dozen people where surrounded on all sides by large beasts with their backs to the lake. They shot flaming arrows at the beasts causing them to erupt into balls of green flames, but they hardly noticed and kept advancing, hundreds of them making their way to them, slowly. Taking their time like they had no need to hurry. Suddenly one of the campers, a black haired guy a who looked a little older then Aiden, raised his hand and a gigantic pillar of water shot into the air and blasted the beasts head on, but it only stopped them for a few seconds. The ones that had been knocked down got back up and shook the water off, then resumed their advance. Aiden couldn't watch what was about to happen next. He turned around, and there before him stood Artemis. She didn't move, it didn't even look like she was breathing, she only said five words. "Don't let this happen boy."

Aiden woke as the car went over a large bump, he looked outside to see it was already night time. "Jeez. Didn't even realize I'd fallen asleep." They where still on the highway nearing a large city. He looked at their driver, Geoff, and scratched his head. "How long was I out?" Geoff looked at the radio clock. "We left around eleven o'clock and it's six now, so about seven hours. Wow, never been on a quest where I got more then thirty minutes with no monsters. Where almost out of Ohio and about to get to Pennsylvania. " Aiden rolled his eyes. As far as he was concerned the lack of corn spirits or bird ladies was a good thing. "Should've been with us last night. We where attacked by just about everything. We where literally attacked by a mobile station. Since when has the hydra been a gas station?" Geoff turned the radio on to the traffic report, they where in northern Ohio now. If they kept driving they'd be at their destination by tomorrow evening. "A few decades back some of mercury's kids figured out how to combine companies with hydras. Don't ask me how, but that's why franchises seem to pop up so quickly." Aiden nodded. He was coming to expect things like that now.

He looked at the rear view mirror, Thalia was still asleep. She was laid across the back seat and was using her jacket as a blanket. She looked peaceful in her sleep, her chest slowly rising with each breath she took. Suddenly Geoff jerked the car left and went on an exit ramp to the city, waking her up as she hit her head on the door. "The hell was that?" She asked as her jacket fell to the floor and she rubbed her head. Aiden quickly averted his eyes from the mirror. "A car had been behind us for a while, I wanted to make sure it wasn't following us." And sure enough with in a minute a red Toyota Camry was behind them again. "Oh shit! We need to lose them. How far from the city? We can probably lose them in traffic." Thalia suggested. Aiden looked at a map Geoff had sprawled on the dashboard. "We're about five minutes out. If we floor it we can get there quicker."

Geoff smiled and put his seat belt on, apparently he hadn't been wearing it the entire time. "Hold on!" Suddenly it sounded like he kicked the pedal and they sped up to nearly a hundred miles per hour. Thalia was pinned against the back of her seat and Aiden's stomach felt like it was in his throat."Good lord! I didn't mean to literally floor it!" They entered the city and subsequently, lots of traffic. "But where's the fun in not flooring it? See, gotta think about these things." He said as he weaved in and out of traffic. The car that had been following them was still on their tail, apparently they could match them for speed. Mortals where looking their way, but didn't seem to be fully grasping the situation. "How is no one seeing this!" Aiden yelled as Geoff made a near ninety degree turn. "The car is magic, the mist is blocking the mortals view, for all we know they might think this car is a rhinoceros!" Geoff said as he made a U turn passing their pursuers, giving a quick salute as they went by. Aiden sighed as he put his own seatbelt on. "So a rhino running through the streets in Ohio is more believable then a car chase?"

Geoff turned again, the car still in pursuit, and drove into what appeared to be a junkyard. "Mortals will believe anything. Anything but the truth that is." Geoff said as he backed into a row of old cars that looked ready to crumble into dust. Suddenly the interior of the car changed. The seats became hard and cracked, a stick shift appeared between Geoff and Aiden and the silver paint was ladened with orange rust. Geoff turned off the car and got out. Thalia's shield suddenly appeared along with a spear with a long, gold shaft and glowing bronze tip. She turned around giving both of them a clear view of her shield. Aiden jumped to the side while Geoff averted his eyes, on her shield was the face of the most hideous woman either of them had ever seen with snakes for hair. "Oy! Watch where your swinging that thing!" Geoff said putting the shot gun in a holster on his back. She turned her shield away from them. "Sorry. We need to get out of here." Geoff pulled out his shotgun and took point. "Get in front of me Aiden, I'll guard your rear."

In single file they slowly made their way through piles of junk, the car was no where in sight. "We lost them I think." Aiden said. Suddenly he heard the sound of clanking metal, Thalia had blocked two arrows with her shield. "Geoff, take these guys!" Two cloaked figures, like the one from Aidens house, where on top of a pile of old appliances. Geoff pulled out his 9mm and started firing, sure enough each bullet turned into a fire ball on contact. Unfortunately, the Lycans where just fast enough to get out of the bullets paths, they dodged each of them forcing Geoff to reload. Thalia grabbed Aidens wrist and pulled him away. "We need to get going!"

"What about Geoff?" He asked. He looked back at him, he was fighting off the two Lycans with his guns, but if he didn't start hitting them soon they'd make it past him real fast. "He can handle himself! The mission comes first!"

Geoff hadn't been on a quest in years, and of course he had to fight two of the most dangerous monsters there where. He could really use Sarah right now, her vines would easily restrain these guys, or even Ottonashi. A black belt in Wing Chung would at least keep these guys busy. Or hell, anyone in the old suicide squad would help. But Geoff couldn't think about what could be, he had to focus on what was. He put a new clip in and fired, finally he hit one of them in the shoulder. The bullet burst into a gold and orange ball of fire, cooking his shoulder and scorching his face.

The Lycan fell to the ground and lay motionless as he turned to ash, his cloak the only remain. The other pulled out a gladius and rushed him, he closed the distance and tried to slash his throat but Geoff was ready. He grabbed his shotgun by the pistol grip and blocked the Lycans sword, accidentally firing off a shot towards the sky. The recoil pushed the sword away giving Geoff room to punch him in the gut. The Lycan stumbled backwards towards his fallen comrade. "Your buddy over there doesn't look so good! Maybe you should go help him?" The Lycan rushed and tried to stab him in the stomach, but his sword merely bounced off his body armor. Geoff raised his colt and pointed it right under the Lycans chin. "Bye bye!" He pulled the trigger blowing his jaw straight off. As the bullet exited out of his skull his eyes burst into flames and the top of his head blew off in a burst of fire. He put his pistol back in his holster and pumped his shotgun to replace the shell he'd fired off in the skirmish. "Jeez, you guys really need to lighten up."

"I need to find those two kids. Hope Aiden doesn't do anything stupid with Thalia." Soon as Geoff thought that, another thought entered his mind and he remembered how he saw Aiden looking at her in the rear view mirror. "She did tell him. Right?" He dismissed the thought and went back to the matters at hand, they needed to find out why the Lycans wanted Aiden and to get him to the Greek camp. He looked around trying to figure out which way they went when he saw figure climbing one of the mounds of junk. It was to fast to be either of them, it's back was hunched over in an odd way. It turned its head, revealing it's profile in the moon light. It's head had an elongated mouth, and two pointy ears topped it's head. "Shit! There was more!" It jumped off the mountain of trash and was out of sight. That was when Geoff saw the lightning.

"Aiden! Go find a place to hide!" Thalia smashed her shield into a Lycans face as she stabbed another in the stomach with her spear. She was fighting two on one, and Aiden felt completely useless. "I can't just leave you!" He yelled as Thalia whipped her spear with the skewered Lycan into the other knocking them about three yards away. "Dammit Aiden just do it!" She turned around, she was bleeding just above the right eye and her jacket had a tear near the bottom left. "You're not a hero like me or Geoff, you're a target. And they will not stop until they have you. This isn't a game, if they find you they will most likely kill you!" She thrust her shield at him inducing a sudden jolt of fear. "Now RUN!" He grit his teeth and ran away toward a large compactor. Thalia turned around towards her opponents. They had gotten back up and had transformed into their wolf like forms. She looked up to the sky to see a slim and beautiful crescent moon. "Full moon my ass." She thought as she raised her shield and put her spear over it. "You're not a hero Aiden. Not yet at least."

Aiden ran toward the compactor, he had no idea where he was going, he just chose a direction and ran. He needed to do something, he couldn't just sit on his ass while a woman fought for him. His mom wouldn't forgive him for that. He looked around, he had a knife that wouldn't work, piles of junk, and a huge compactor. "Give up now and your death will be painless." He looked up at a mound of trash and saw a shadowy figure atop it. It looked like the creatures in his dream, large with curved legs and an elongated snout. "Well, that's a nice offer, but why don't we do this instead. How bout we not kill me! I like that idea. I think it's a good one." He backed up slowly, of course it wasn't going to work, but he needed time. "Pathetic mortal. Accept your death as the fates have decreed it! Meet your end with honor!"

Aiden chuckled a little, he was right on the edge of the compactor. It was a huge open pit with walls that pushed inward to crush cars. "Honor? You talk about honor when your threatening a someone decades younger then you? Why, cause your master told you to?" The Lycan growled, his nose flared as Aiden mentioned his master. "Watch your tongue boy!" Aiden took his knife out, it may not work, but he at least wanted to go out like a man. "I came into this world kicking and screaming, that's how I intend to go out." The Lycan slashed his claws at Aiden. He ducked and stabbed the werewolf in the chest. "You want to talk about honor? How about Thalia, she didn't need to save me yesterday, she could have let your buddy take me. Then she wouldn't be over there wiping the floor with your friends." The Lycan was enraged with each word, now he was flailing his fists at him instead of using weapons or his claws. "And what about Geoff, he could have said 'not my problem' When a couple of kids asked him to risk everything for them. But he left his cozy little town to go all the way to New York with us." The Lycan picked Aiden up and threw him into the pit. Aiden rolled to the other as the Lycan walked to the edge. "Silence! You have no standing here mortal!" Aiden got up and raised his knife to guard his neck. He just told him their destination, one of them was going to die now. "You have no right to talk about honor! Not when your idea of honor is bending over your master like the bitch you are!"

Suddenly the Lycan threw a car into the pit, Aiden ducked and barely missed getting hit. The car was smashed on the giant metal compactor wall behind him. Before Aiden could regain his composure the Lycan pounced on him and started strangling him. "YOU WILL DIE SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY!" Aidens vision was blurring, but in the corner of his eye he saw a panel with a large green button on it. If he learned anything in the shop, it was green buttons always meant on. Aiden had never prayed before, but now seemed like a good time to start. "Who was the God of throwing things again? Archery is close enough. Uhh, Geoff's dad, A LITTLE HELP?" With his free hand he grabbed a piece of shrapnel from the wrecked car and threw it at the panel.

Apollo must have answered his prayer, for the shrapnel hit the button square in the middle. And just as he believed, the walls began to close in on them. "Looks like we're going out together!" He said as best he could while being choked. The walls would be on them any second, the car wreck getting closer, making a sound like nails on chalk board as it moved across the metal bottom. Suddenly the entire pit lit up and the Lycan was thrown off him. "Grab it Aiden!" Aiden looked up and saw Thalia on the edge of the compactor sticking the shaft of her spear out to him. He scrambled to stand up and grabbed it and, mustering all her strength, she pulled Aiden up as the walls closed on the Lycan, merging him with the car he'd thrown in. The walls opened allowing the other two to close turning the car and Lycan into a cube of mangled metal and flesh.

Thalia fell on the ground and started panting. "Aiden, do something like that again, and I swear to gods I'll deliver you to Chiron in a suitcase." Geoff ran up to them and looked to his left. Aiden looked at what he was looking at and realized something, he'd run back the way they'd come. He was right next to the row of cars they'd parked in. "Where's our car? I'd parked it right there." Aiden looked over to the compactor and Thalia slowly got up. "Aiden, where's our car?"

"Well, funny story, see, those Lycans are like really strong. And he may or may not have thrown the car at me, and I may or may not have turned it into a cube." Thalia slowly walked over to the compactor and looked in. "That car survived and IED in Afghanistan, it was thrown off a cliff by a dragon, and I crashed it three times. And in one day, you broke it. I'm not even mad, I'm actually impressed." Geoff shot the car engulfing it in flames. "Just wanted to make sure." He holstered his gun and started walking. "Well, looks like where walking the rest of the way."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five: Im Saved by a Super Model

Thalia found herself sitting on the roof of Zeus cabin at camp Half-Blood. She stared at the night sky, it was pristine and clear, unlike in the city, where all the lights from the buildings made it so you can't see a single star. She huddled into a ball as she saw her breath rise. She wasn't sure why she had gone on to the roof, it had just felt right.

"Are you sure it's safe to be up here? If the security harpies see you they'll probably try to kill you. Again." She turned her head to look behind her. It was dark, but she could easily make out his features in the moon light. His messy, dirty blonde hair, his thin build, and a new feature, a scar that started just below his left eye.

"Luke! What happened to you?" He sat down next to her, his hand brushing against her hand, making it recoil slightly. But not so much they stopped touching.

"The quest didn't go quite as planned, the dragon woke up and attacked us. We barely made it out alive." He looked down at his lap, a wave of shame washing over his face. "Chiron said all quests where suspended until further notice. My failure ruined years of training for everyone." Thalia grabbed his hand. It was the only source of warmth in the coldness of the night. How many years had she known him now? How long had they been on the been on the run for? How long before they had found Annabeth, before Grover brought them to camp?

"Don't say that Luke. It was a suicide mission anyways. Hell, Heracles nearly died doing the same thing. And he was the strongest hero ever." Luke looked down at their entwined hands, the sight brought him to ease as he slowly began to smile.

"You're right. Guess I'll just have to train harder and wait for a chance to prove myself again." They just sat there for several minutes, not saying anything, just looking at each other.

Luke brought his hand to her face and ran it through her hair. "You know, when we where escaping that garden, I realized there was only one thing I could think about. It wasn't the quest, it wasn't getting back to camp, it wasn't even surviving." Suddenly He grabbed her and pulled her head close to his chest. "Dammit Thalia. I don't care what happens, I just need you." She looked up and started to lean in to him, their lips where millimeters away from each other when she was woken by the sound of a shotgun and Aiden yelling about big dogs.

"So, dogs from hell are a thing. Wish I'd known that before one of them decided to nom on my shoulder." Aiden said as he rubbed his shoulder despite Geoff telling him it would upset the stitches. A pack of hellhounds had attacked them in the early morning while they where asleep. Luckily Aiden had been pulling guard duty, despite the fact that it was supposed to be Thalia's turn. After the incident they'd found themselves stumbling into the dining room of a McDonalds so Geoff could stitch Aidens shoulder from the bite wound. Luckily his shirt was red so it his the blood stains.

Thalia thought on this as she rested her head on her fist. "Yes Aiden. Hell hounds are real. And yes, they'll eat you. Now will you shut up about it and where the hell is Geoff with breakfast!" She yelled as other patrons started looking towards them. To answer her, a tray was set down on their table between the two of them.

"Jeez, I'm right here. I know you're hungry but there's no need to bite our heads off." Geoff said as he sat down next to Aiden on the other side of the table. Thalia rubbed her left temple as she picked up a Mcgriddle. She thought about her dream last night, she'd been having it a lot, but she'd never made it that far. "Let's see, that's the eighth time I've had that same dream this month." She thought as she took a bite. Ever since she'd come back because of the Golden Fleece she'd wondered what could have been. What could have been if Grover hadn't taken that wrong turn, if those monsters hadn't caught up with them, what would have happened. She'd never admit it, but sometimes when she looked at Aiden, just for a second, she thought she was seeing Luke. They shared similar features. They had the same build, same dirty blonde hair. Though Aiden could be a bit crude at times, he'd proven himself to be, at the very least, trust worthy. But of course he couldn't be, Luke had died in the battle of Manhattan.

Aiden put his half eaten hash brown down and started asking about their next course of action. "As much as I love being hunted down by werewolves, hell hounds, and harpies I'd really like to get to the camp so I can, you know, not die."

Geoff put his coffee down and finished his breakfast sandwich in two bites. "I don't know man, you handled yourself pretty well with that Lycan the other day, and the hell hounds this morning, the one you stabbed inside its mouth. That took balls. Now eat your breakfast, you'll need it if we have another fight later."

Aiden glanced at it, but made no motion to eat it."I'm not that hungry right now." Thalia finished her orange juice, reached over the table, and hit him in the back of the head.

"This is the first chance we've had to eat in gods know how long, now eat the damn food."

Aiden picked up and finished his hash brown. "You know, you've made an annoying habit of hitting me." Thalia glared at him, she'd been acting funny all morning, distant, short tempered, easily annoyed. During the fight she'd seemed out of it, like she was somewhere else. That didn't stop her from taking down ten hell hounds in the time it took Aiden to take down one.

"And you've made an annoying habit of saying stupid shit like that. Seriously, if you keep that up you'll starve before Lyacon can get to you. Now, how the hell are we goanna get the rest of the way to Long Island, we don't have a car and we've got all of Pennsylvania and most of New York to get across." Geoff threw their trash away and pulled out a map and traced several routes with his fingers.

"This looks like the fastest we should be able to make it in about a week, pending attacks of course."

Aiden found himself staring at Thalia again. He couldn't help but admire her combat abilities, they'd saved his ass more times then he could count over the past few days. "Hey Thalia, can you tell us a bit about yourself? You've been nearly killing yourself to keep me alive, and I don't know jack shit about you." Aiden asked, shrinking back to prepare for the next smack to his head. But Thalia only shrugged as if there was nothing to talk about.

"What's there to say? I was born in the late eighties, my dad is Zeus, and my mom was a tv actress. My dad left after I was born and my mom became an alcoholic. But seven years later he returned as his Roman form, Jupiter, and my little brother, Jason, was born." Thalia smiled as she said it, the thought of her brother distracting her from her dream last night. "Of course that pissed Hera off a lot, him having two children with the same woman in both his forms. So about two years later she had my mother take him to Lupa and give him up to the twelfth legion. After that my moms alcoholism got worse. One day I had enough, so I ran away. I ended up meeting this guy, Luke, and a little girl, Annabeth. We lived together for a while, always on the run, but we where together so it was okay. Then one day we met a Satyr named Grover, he told us he could take us to a place that was safe, the same place we're going to now. So we went with him, but some how Hades found out who I was. And of course he was angry, this was during the period when the three eldest gods weren't supposed to have kids, and his brother had broken the vow. So he sent hundreds of hell hounds and the three furies of Tartarus after us. We got to half blood hill but it was too late, they had caught up. I stayed behind to fend them off while the others got to the camp, and they did." Thalia paused, her eyes were starting to tear up and her voice was choking now. "I- I remember laying there dying. It was cold, I couldn't feel anything but the coldness. My father took pity on me, he saved my life by turning me into a white pine tree and erecting a barrier around the camp. So that the people I died to protect may live. Years later, my tree was poisoned. To save it, Annabeth, Percy, Tyson, and Clarisse found the Golden Fleece and put it on my tree to heal it. But it did better then they thought, and it resurrected me. And here I am."

Aiden was silent, but Geoff was absolutely stunned. "Thalia, that's amazing even by demigod standards. I'm not sure how to respond." Aiden felt his chest tighten slightly as a thought entered his mind and filled him with dread.

"You where dead?" He asked. It was a thought he couldn't conceive. In the short time he'd known her, she'd proven to be the best fighter he'd ever know, granted that wasn't setting a very high bar. She was brave, but also had a sense of compassion. She was loyal and had strong sense of duty, she was willing to die if necessary for her mission, but would do anything to live for it instead. Suddenly, another thought entered Aidens head. "Wait, did you say a white pine tree?" Thalia put her trash on the tray and put it in the garbage can behind them.

"Yeah. Not sure why it was white though." She said sitting back in her chair. Aiden thought to his dream from before the junk yard incident. The tree he'd been standing next to was a white pine tree. He put the thought aside deciding it had just been a coincidence in some stress induced dream. They got up and started leaving the restaurant. As soon as they where outside, however, Thalia stopped dead in her tracks and muttered to herself. "Oh shit. What's she doing here?" There where lots of people going about, but Aiden could easily tell who Thalia was referring to. Suddenly the girl in question turned around and looked straight at them. Aiden looked her up and down And leaned towards Geoff. "Dude, she's fucking hot." All be it she looked extremely out of place. She wore a full, black leather cat suit in the middle of the side walk leading to the restaurant. She ran her hand through her long, auburn hair as she turned around and looked in their direction. She smiled revealing a set of perfect teeth. Aiden couldn't help but notice she had many other assets as well.

"Guys, other way, other way!" Thalia grabbed Geoff and Aiden and started walking quickly away from her. Unfortunately for Thalia, not fast enough.

"Thalia! Funny meeting you here, you on a quest? And who's your friend?" Her voice was bubbly, especially towards the end of that question, overly positive, and sounded vaguely Chicagoan in accent. She stopped as she approached them. She was addressing Thalia, but her eyes were glued on Aiden.

"Uhh, Thalia, who is this?" Aiden asked as Thalia wiped her face with her hand and sighed. "Aiden, this is Belle. She's an Amazon, we did some work together last summer during the war. Now Belle, the hell are you doing here?" Thalia's words seemed to go in one ear and out the other, except one.

"Your names Aiden? It's wonderful to meet you." She stepped in closer to him putting Aiden in an uncomfortably close proximity to her. Though part of him didn't mind.

"Yes. That's me. It's nice to meet you to?" He asked, unsure how to respond to her. Thalia rolled her eyes and pulled her away from him while Geoff started chuckling behind his closed hand.

"Ok, maybe you didn't hear me. What are you doing here!" People where starting to look in their direction so Belle motioned them to follow her. They ended up following her into a forest that was behind the McDonalds.

"I was put in charge of a group of seven hunters, your master sent us on a mission here in Pennsylvania to search for the Minotaur. My Queen received an Intel report that he was spotted in this area and contacted Artemis for help." She stopped for a second to get her bearings and started walking east. "We've been forced to spread our forces thin to. It's been hell on our companies stock."

"Company? Wait, you're an Amazon, you've got a company. You work for Amazon, don't you?" Belle turned around and grabbed his wrist forcing him to walk with her.

"Of course! Cute and smart are we? I'm the regional manager for the Midwest. How else would we fund our campaign for global female domination?" Aiden stopped causing Belle to begin physically dragging him.

"Are you saying I've funded an organization that hates men and seeks to take over the world every time I've bought something online? And how are you so strong?"

She giggled as she continued to pull Aiden, who was leaning on his heels. "Don't be silly! we don't hate men," Suddenly she pulled him close into her and put her arm around his waist. "we just want keep them in their place." Thalia's face turned red as she clenched her teeth. She drew her shield and spear as Aiden turned to Geoff and began to stutter out a response.

"I-I- I need an adult." Aiden said as Geoff put his arms in the air. "Don't look at me, I'm barely a functioning adult myself." Aiden was shaking slightly, he'd never been this close to a girl before. Most of the girls he knew thought he was ignorant given his choice of study. Thalia walked up to them and separated them.

"All right that's enough you two. Belle, who are the hunters?" belle stopped for a second and started listing names as she counted on her fingers.

"Let's see, We've got Yuri, Esperanza, Alexis, Sarah, Yadira, Zara, and Barb. Good girls, handle themselves in a fight great. Need to loosen up a bit though." Thalia was about to say something when suddenly Geoff started screaming bloody murder. The other three looked towards him and saw what caused him to scream and frantically load his shot gun. Weaving in and out of the trees was a man with a bulls head. Thalia materialized her shield and spear and took a defensive position in front of Aiden who took out his knife. Belle walked in front of all of them towards Geoff. But instead of helping him, she grabbed the barrel of his shot gun and pushed it towards the ground.

"Let me take care of him." The Minotaur was fast approaching, about a couple hundred yards away, but Belle appeared to be in no hurry. She looked to her left at an oak tree about thirty feet tall and ran her hand along its bark. "Yeah this one will work." She grabbed it with her other hand and in one, effortless movement ripped it out of the ground.

"What the hell? How'd she do that!" Aiden stared in disbelief as she faced the oncoming Minotaur. It was almost on them, but before it had a chance to get to them she brought the tree down right on top of its head.

Thalia turned to Aiden and grinned. "What? Surprised a girl can be strong?" Aiden leaned over and looked in front of Thalia.

"I'm surprised any one can be that strong! Isn't that The Minotaur? One of the most famous monsters ever?"

Thalia looked at Belle who was in the middle of a fist fight with the monster. It looked like she was boxing it with her bare hands. "The Amazons aren't a very exclusive bunch. They'll take anyone. Mortal, nymph, demigod. Belle is a daughter of Aphrodite, and because of that she has a special power. One that symbolizes her lineage as an Amazon and daughter of Aphrodite, her physical strength increases and decreases relative to her physical beauty."

As soon as she said that, Belle flew past them and into a tree, which subsequently collapsed as she hit it. "Damn, he's strong." She said as she got up. Her right arm was hanging at her side limply, she grabbed it with her other arm and jammed it back into place as she grunted in pain. Unfortunately The Minotaur had just enough time to close the distance.

Thalia pushed Aiden and Suddenly he flew ten feet in the air. He landed on his feet next to Geoff who reloaded his shot gun. "She's getting really annoying!" Aiden screamed at Geoff. He looked over to Thalia and Belle, they where fighting the Minotaur who had drawn twin battle axes. They tried to get past them but he was to quick and his blows to punishing. "I have a plan Geoff!" Aiden quickly took his shirt off and ran in front of a tree. "Gods I hope this works." He positioned him self directly behind the Minotaur, who was in the process of ramming his axe down on Thalia's shield while it had belle pinned to a tree, about thirty feet away.

Aiden breathed deeply and started waving his shirt around wildly. "'Ey Jack ass! Over here!" The Minotaur stopped beating on Thalia and turned towards Aiden. It breathed heavily from his nose and started sprinting towards him. He was less then a foot away when Aiden jumped out of the way and the monster rammed into the tree. It stumbled back but quickly regained its composure. By then Aiden had repositioned himself in front of another tree. "Come one! Traffic on the loop during rush hour is faster then you!"

Thalia starred in disbelief as Aiden stood perfectly still in the face of the oncoming monster. "What's that moron doing! He'll get gored!" But Belle only smiled as she realized what he was doing.

The Minotaur roared as it ran toward Aiden, who again jumped away at the last possible second. "Geez, and I thought the Bears where having a bad season!" Aiden kept the insults coming as the beast ran into more and more trees, each time taking longer and longer to get back up. "Oy! The Cubs will win a World Series before you get me!" Finally, with all its might, the Minotaur made one final sprint towards Aiden smashing the tree as he jumped away. E Minotaur staggered forward, but it was to weak to hold up its own weight and fell to the ground passed out. Aiden walked up to it and thrust his knife into the back of his head. "Ole bitch." He stumbled towards Thalia and belle, exhausted by his little bull fighting routine. "You to ok?"

Thalia was amazed by what he'd done, but she was too busy staring at his chest to say anything about it. He was thin to the point his ribs where starting to stick out. "Aiden, are you anorexic?"


	6. Chapter 6

Authors notes: I'm thinking of switching from a third person omniscient POV to first person, I think the story will be more enjoyable that way. Also, any one who's finished the heroes of Olympus, does any one else feel that it set up for a third series? I just feel it was too open ended and set up for new adventures.

Chapter six: Terror

"Eat. Now." Thalia said as she put a plate in front of Aiden. He pushed it away as he usually did with food.

"I told you, I'm not hungry and I'm not anorexic. Just haven't been hungry lately." Thalia stared at him in disbelief. His arms looked like tooth picks and his ribs where starting to show through his skin. Thalia had first noticed when he'd taken off his shirt earlier while fighting the Minotaur. She couldn't believe he'd been able to hold up like he had been while he was practically starving himself.

"Do I look like I'm asking? Eat the freaking deer, slowly. We don't want your stomach bursting on us." They were in a tent back at the place Belle had been taking them to. The other hunters where rather surprised when Thalia had brought a shirtless guy with her. With out saying anything to them she sat him down at a rectangular table in the center and asked for a plate of food and put it in front of them. Belle walked in with Geoff, again the hunters found this odd. Thalia got up and walked over to the other girls who sat at the far end of the table. "Yuri, I know this is short notice but we need help"she pointed her thumb over her shoulder to Aiden, who only now realized he still had his shirt off. "Aiden over there managed to kill the Minotaur so your missions done. We need you seven to come with us, I'm taking him to camp Half-Blood."

She explained the situation to them, about her tracking the werewolf, meeting Aiden, Artemis giving them their orders, everything. Finally when she was done Yuri spoke up. "You want us to travel with men?" She said as if it where the greatest insult that could be tossed at her, like there very presence was a disgrace.

"I don't, but Artemis does. So we better start packing up. And eat your food Aiden!" Thalia kept a calm expression through the entire exchange. Aiden finished his meal just as they where ready to leave and one of the girls told him to get out so they could take down the tent. He complied not wanting to piss them off more. He only realized the tent was bigger on the inside then on the outside when he got out. Three of the girls took the tent down while the others kept an eye on Aiden and Geoff.

Belle walked over to them as she took out a pair of brass knuckles with spikes on them. "Be careful, something feels off. And you girls, if you're all here then who the hell is watching the perimeter?" She put them on and cracked her knuckles. "And you two, sorry bout how they're treating you."

Geoff unholstered his 9mm and checked to make sure a round was chambered. "No problem, I've dealt with them before. I pretty much expected this. Either ways, you said something's off?" He picked up his bag and started looking through his various fire arms.

Belle looked around while the other girls started walking the perimeter. She leaned in close to them and whispered. "Thalia told me something felt off in the winds, like something was manipulating them. Might be nothing, but be careful." She moved closer to Aiden and grabbed his arm at the elbow. "And if things get violent you should stick close to me."

Aiden looked around for Thalia, if she thought something was off he'd rather be with her. He kept looking as he tried to move Belles arm, unfortunately the super strength made that rather difficult. "Are you really trying to protect me or is this just more flirting?"

She let go of his arm and ran her hand through his hair. He should have enjoyed it but he found himself shuttering. "Both. Mostly flirting, but both." Suddenly she picked Aiden up and held him above her head, as she did Aiden realized he could stop looking for Thalia. She flew across the clearing and landed where he'd been standing moments before. Belle put him down and turned to Thalia. "Found what was messing with the wind?"

Thalia stood up using her spear for support. "Yeah, got my own wind knocked out." Aiden drew his knife and looked around for what had done that to her. Suddenly the other girls started firing arrows at shimmers in the air. The arrows only got blown away before they could make contact. Aiden turned to Thalia and raised an eyebrow. "Anemoi. Wind spirits born of the storm giant Typhon, released at the end of the second titan war two summers ago. A real bitch to take care of.

Aiden looked at his knife, as much as he appreciated it he felt he was going to need something better real soon. "Your dads the sky God, can't you do something?

Thalia charged her spear with electricity and slashed at an incoming spirit, she was met with resistance but managed to kill it, scattering its form to the winds. "I take more after the Lightning and weather side of the family. If your looking for sky and wind control you'll want to talk to my brother."

Several bullets flew past Aidens head in a deafening crack leading him to duck as another Anemoi scattered to the winds. Geoff quickly dropped a clip and put in a new one, but he was running low. He had five clips left, and Aiden had comet or realize guns empty a lot faster then he'd realized. Geoff turned towards the hunters who where still shooting the wind spirits, albeit with little progress. "Arrows are to slow! The Venti can scatter them easily, use something for close combat and you can force your way in!"

In a flash of silver several of the girls switched to hunting knives and rushed the wind spirits flanks while the others provided cover fire. Aiden found himself guarded by Thalia and Belle. Oddly though, as wind spirits attacked the others two stopped in front of them. One looked like a knight from medieval Europe while the other looked like a Roman soldier. The knight drew a sword and pointed it at Thalia and belle. "Hand him over and your deaths will be painless. Our master demands it."

"Wind spirits work with werewolves now?" Aiden found himself thinking. Thalia got directly in front of Aiden and thrust her shield out at the roman while Belle cracked her knuckles towards the knight.

They each drew in closer to him as the Anemoi slowly progressed towards them. "Well, since you've given us such great options, I think we'll pass." Thalia nodded at her sentiment as she thrust her spear out to the roman.

The knight scowled in disgust. "Insolent little girl, what we offer you is mercy! Die now by our hands and you can avoid a fate far worse."

Thalia's jaw muscles tensed as he said that, and he immediately new what she was thinking. What do they plant to do that would be worse then death, and why do they need him for it? Thalia channeled and arc of static through her body that causes her already spiky hair to stand on end. Her leather jacket clinged to her body as she focused it into her arm. "Thanks, but I think we'll just kill you instead." She said. Thalia dropped her spear and grabbed her shield with the newly freed hand. She quickly drew it back behind her like a frisbee and let it go while simultaneously kicking her spear back up in to her hand. The shield flew emitting sparks of static as it did and leaving a tail like a comet. The Roman tried to doge it but only succeeded in having its head cut off. Geoff got blown over to the other six girls who where desperately trying to hold off more and more wind spirits.

He knocked two of the girls over creating an opening for the wind spirits, dozens poured through forcing Thalia and Belle to close in tighter on Aiden. "Dammit where getting killed out here!" Belle yelled as grabbed a small tree out of the ground and started beating spirits with them. "If we don't do something now we're dead!"

Thalia looked around them. They had at least a dozen wind spirits on top of them, they where fighting ferociously to hold them back, but they'd soon be over whelmed. She looked to Aiden and pulled him into an embrace. "Get ready!" She yelled. Not even a second later her eyes grew dark and stormy, like the day they fought those harpies in Ohio. Lightning blue streaks arced across her now dark grey eyes, dancing to match the chaos of the situation. As if on cue they where engulfed in a flash of blinding light. Aiden closed his eyes so he didn't go blind, and when he opened them, the spirits where perfectly still.

Belle looked around, she bit her bottom lip as she analyzed the situation. Geoff and the others where still fighting, but the spirits around them where perfectly still. She looked at Thalia, who still held Aiden, and spoke to her. "Thalia, did you just kill all them. At once?"

"Yes. Yes i did."

"And you do know what happens when so many Anemoi are killed at once? Right?"

"Yes. Yes I do."

Belle shrugged as put her hands over her head. "Ok. Just checking. And Aiden, hold on tight. Real real tight." Geoff looked over to them and started shouting a bunch of expletives Aiden felt he should be sharing, for whatever reason.

But before he could utter a single word all the Anemoi burst at once. Aiden had never felt so much wind in his life. There was so much wind in fact, that Aiden and Thalia soon found them selves flying upwards. Thalia held onto him tighter and tighter as they rose. Soon they started flying into clouds as they slowed down. "Shit, we're hundreds of feet in the air." Aiden thought as they began to fall.

Thalia didn't say anything. All she managed to do was mutter an "uh huh." Tears streamed down her face as they started falling head first towards the ground.

"Wait, you're dads the sky God, he wouldn't let you die from falling from here. Would he?" Still only tears. "Where you hurt?" He yelled over the wind flying past them.

"N-no." She said meekly, her voice cracking as she said it. Aiden didn't understand it, she wasn't hurt so why was she crying so much. Suddenly it dawned on him. "Oh come on! Your dads the God of the skies but your afraid of heights?" He looked down beneath them, lots of water was all he could see. But at their height it might as well have been cement. "Thalia! You need to slow us down!"

She cried harder, almost sobbing as she stammered "I-I- I can't!"

"Yes you can! You're the most amazing person I've ever met! If your brother could do it then you can do it better." She still continued to cry as the water got closer and closer. "You are about to fail your mission! If you won't do it to survive at least do it for that! Do it for me!" Scolded her eyes and kept crying. Aiden looked around wildly, their only chance for survival was having a melt down and they where easily less then a hundred feet from the water.

Suddenly Aiden felt the wind behind him increase, only a gust at first, but soon they started slowing down significantly. "Thank god! Or gods." Aiden thought. They where slowing down, but they where still coming in hot. He wasn't sure what came over him. But he squeezed Thalia as hard as he could, he could feel her tears on his face, her chest rising with each sob. He couldn't help but imagine what kind of hell this ordeal was for her. She squeezed tighter making it hard for him to breathe, but it was Thalia, so he didn't care. At that moment he knew what to do.

He shifted his weight so his back faced the water. He put his hand on her head and calmly told her to take a deep breath. She complied. "At least this way I'll break the water and it shouldn't hurt her too much." Aiden thought, and in seconds Aidens back slapped the water. It felt as though his back had been lashed by a single large whip. Thousands of bubbles whirled around him. He quickly oriented him self and swam to the surface while holding Thalia's hand. When he got their he scanned the environment, it was much warmer then it had been previously, and land was only a short swim away. Thalia let go and started swimming there her self.

A few minutes later they washed up on a sandy beach. "Oh gods, are we in Chicago again?" The only beach Aiden had ever been to was the one on Lake Michigan, unfortunately Thalia knew better.

Soaking wet with red eyes she walked up with an old newspaper from the previous day. "Worse, we're in Miami."


End file.
